Texts in Salesian Spirituality St. Francis
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TEXTS IN SALESIAN SPIRITUALITY ST. FRANCIS DE SALES Letters (unpublished) to ANTOINE FAVRE First President of the Sovereign Senate of Savoy edited, with an introduction and comments, by Sr. Marie-Patricia Burns, VHM translated into English by Rev. Alexander T. Pocetto, OSFS Several years ago, the Académie Chablaisienne acquired three letters of Francis de Sales addressed to his “dear brother” Antoine Favre. To our knowledge they have not been published. M. Joseph Ticon, President of this Academy, asked me to make a study of them for the Convention of the Learned Societies of Savoy. These letters give important new details regarding the personal lives of the Bishop of Geneva in exile in Annecy and the First President of the Senate of Savoy. They give us a better idea of the closeness of their relations and friendship. First of all we shall give a brief biographical sketch of the two correspondents, who are well known to Savoyards. Francis de Sales was born in the chateau of Thorens on August 21, 1567, the first child of François de Nouvelles, Lord of Boisy called de Sales and of Françoise de Sionnaz. He studied first at la Roche-sur-Foron and at the Chappusien school in Annecy, then with the Jesuits in Paris at Clermont college, and finally at the University of Padua, where he brilliantly earned a doctorate in both civil and Canon Law. He pursued these studies to please his father who envisaged a career in the Senate of Savoy for his oldest son, and at the same time, he studied theology to please himself, for he had always wanted to be a priest. The sovereign Senate in Chambéry accepted him as a lawyer on November 24, 1592. Favre was present, but the two future friends did not meet at that time. The call to arms by the Lieutenant General of Savoy, the Marquis de Treffort, put an abrupt end to the audience. - 2 - To the great displeasure of his father, and after many difficulties, he was ordained a priest. He was given the highest position in the diocese after that of the bishop, Provost of the Cathedral Chapter. His first mission was the conversion of the Chablais. For four years, he tried to bring the Calvinists back to the Catholic faith of their fathers. It was an extremely difficult and discouraging period for the young missionary. The Duke of Savoy did not support him as he had promised to do. But in Favre, the envoy of the Duke of Savoy in the Chablais, Francis found a true friend who knew how to support and spur him on. Bishop de Granier, bishop of Geneva in exile in Annecy, sent Francis to Paris to deal with the King of France about the future of the Catholics in the region of Gex. Antoine Favre accompanied him to discuss with Anne d’Este the succession in Ferrara. When he returned from this trip in 1602, Francis succeeded Bishop de Granier as bishop of Geneva. Francis and Favre later fulfilled other diplomatic missions together, either in Paris or in Rome. In 1610, Francis de Sales founded with the Baroness Jane de Chantal, the Visitation Order in Annecy. Favre’s daughter, Jacqueline, became one of the first Visitandines. Francis won considerable literary acclaim with his two books, An Introduction to a Devout Life and the Treatise on the Love of God . Charles Emmanuel, Duke of Savoy went to France with his sons and daughter-in-law to pay their respects to King Louis XIII, who returned victorious from a war against the Huguenots in the south of France. The Duke ordered the bishop to join him in Avignon. The latter obeyed although he was ill, and died in Lyons on December 28, 1622. Antoine Favre, born in Bourg-en-Bresse on October 5, 1557, also studied the humanities in Paris with the Jesuits, then in Turin where he obtained a doctoral degree in law in 1579. His first wife, Benoîte Favre, whom he married in 1581, died in childbirth in 1605. Given his large family and his social situation, Favre remarried the following year Philiberte Martin de la Pérouse. He had a brilliant career -- judge in seneschal court of Bresse and Bugey (1584), Senator of the Sovereign Senate of Savoy (1587), President of the Council of Genevois (1596). On June 20, 1610, Charles Emmanuel signed the letters patent appointing Antoine Favre, Baron of Péroges, First President of the Senate of Savoy. On July 8th, he was installed in his position. When he left Annecy to reside in Chambéry, he let his friend, the bishop, use his house. Like Francis de Sales, Favre was a writer. His most notable work is the Codex Fabrianus, a Latin commentary of Savoyard law. Together they founded the Académie Florimontane in 1606 and wrote the statutes which governed this society. The meetings were held in Favre’s home. Due to the departure of the latter in 1610 and the overwhelming burdens of the bishop, the Academy declined rapidly. [click hereHU UH for a description of the Florimontane Academy] - 3 - Among the diplomatic missions confided to them was the marriage of the Prince of Savoy, Victor Amédée, to Christine of France, daughter of Henry IV. The president and the bishop joined the embassy of Cardinal Maurice of Savoy. When the formalities were completed, the marriage took place in the chapel of the Louvre on February 10, 1619. Favre, greatly saddened by the death of his friend in 1622, died on February 18, 1624, shortly after the death of his second wife. DD1DD[1] The first letter we have analyzed is dated from Annecy, August 17, 1610. That year was marked for the bishop by the founding of the Visitation Order, and for the president by his appointment to the presidency of the Sovereign Senate of Savoy. Dear Brother, I am writing to ask you not to take the time to write to me, unless you can do so easily; although your letters give me great pleasure, it is only when I know that they do not cause you any inconvenience. I suggest this solution to please you if it doesn’t trouble you. The hand of our dear “Madame Présidente” is all yours as well as her heart. Have her write to me on your behalf, and I will be satisfied! I always have some free time at my disposal, and I have no other hand or heart to dispose of but my own. This is why I will always write to you, if you want me to, although not too often for fear of making you feel you have to do likewise. I will be seeing Monsieur de Vaugelas this evening, who I’m sure, will know how to content your good pleasure by his affection. But why didn’t I know that your oldest son was received in the Senate except through hearsay, although you wrote to me after he had been accepted? I am, nonetheless, pleased that you should have this contentment. This will unite the Senate in an excellent circle which begins and ends with you. God knows how many blessings I desire for both father and son. It seems to me that you are a bit concerned over the headache of our dear daughter, but you should not worry for the illness is neither constant nor steady; she sleeps and eats well, and laughs heartily when it is appropriate. In a word, she is so determined to be holy that she told me the other day she wanted to use this illness as a practice of mortification. She wants to make it habitual and easy by dint of patience and resignation, by considering of the crown of thorns of Our Lord. However, we are doing everything we can for her. She is cutting back a half-hour of the morning meditation and does the remainder of her duties without forcing herself. She sleeps as much as she needs to, goes out in the fresh air, eats suitable foods. In other words, you should not worry about her at all. There are rumors here of a disastrous war for our Geneva. God knows what my wishes are for this. Good evening, dear brother, love constantly. Your humble brother and faithful servant, Francis, Bishop of Geneva August 17, 1610, Annecy - 4 - To M. Favre, Baron de Péroges, Councillor of State of His Highness and First President of Savoy Francis de Sales knows that his friend, just installed as the First President of the Senate in Chambéry, is overworked. He found many unresolved cases. This explains the bishop’s solicitude to spare his friend any additional burdens of writing. He suggests the clever means of having his wife, Philiberte Martin de la Pérouse, D2D[2] “our Madame Présidente,” write on his behalf. There is in the bishop’s correspondence a great affection not only for Favre himself, but also for his wife, whom he called his “very dear sister,” and their children who are his “nephews.” “Our Madame Présidente” did, in fact, write to Francis and received from him letters full of charm and affection as well as advice for her spiritual life. “Be careful not to let your preoccupations turn to trouble or anxiety, and when you are totally immersed in the waves and winds of many difficulties, always look up to heaven and say to our Lord: ‘O God, it for you that I am rowing. Be my guide and my rock.’”D3D[3] The bishop added, “I don’t have any other hand” to write to him. This may be surprising because he had several secretaries, notably Michel Favre D4D[4] (no relation to the President), who was also his confessor.